I think one of the most amazing things about Saturday Night Live isn’t its longevity. It’s that so many people of the original cast are still alive. While John Belushi and Gilda Radner passed away in the 1980s, others such as Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, Larraine Newman and Bill Murray are still alive. And other numerous hosts from the 1970s such as Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Candice Bergen are still around.
While George Coe and Michael O’Donoghue who appeared in the first episode but got pushed to the featured cast later have passed, it’s hard to believe so many would still remain after 50 years. And this might be why the people behind the three-hour special show on Sunday, Feb. 16 decided to learn from their mistakes. I don’t wish anyone any harm. But it’s very likely in 10-15 years, all the original “Not Ready for Primetime Players” may be gone. Morris just turned 88 and has to use a walker. He was seated in a chair for his appearance to which he got some much-deserved applause from the audience. Chase is 81 and the rest are in their 70s. Aykroyd’s absence has cause some online chatter.
But 50 years of talent is hard to squeeze into a special that really is only about two-and-a-half hours if you account for commercial breaks. However, this time, they did it the right way. The main problem I had with the 25th and 40th anniversary shows is there was too much of a Chris Farley “Remember that time…” feel to the show. I didn’t really find it all that funny that Billy Crystal referred to Chris Rock as “Eddie” as in Eddie Murphy, as it was a huge about Murphy not being there.
Speaking of which, Murphy has a lot more fun this time where he appears in two skits. In the 40th anniversary, he acted like he didn’t want to be there as he just came out and said something briefly. Murphy is one of the greatest things about the show as during a skit of Black Jeopardy, he plays Tracy Morgan and he’s standing next to the real Morgan who along with Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson break character and start laughing at his impersonation.
Murphy later appears with Thompson in a parody of Scared Straight as an inmate whose hair is half-braided and half as an afro. While it’s obvious Thompson and Murphy are looking too much at the cue cards, it still works thanks to some surprise appearances that I won’t give away.
Actually, I don’t want to give too much away but the appearance by Meryl Streep for the first time ever on SNL in a “Close Encounters” skit is one of the best moments as her and Kate McKinnon playing trailer trash mother and daughter are hilarious. The best part is watching Jon Hamm as a military official trying to keep it together as well as Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson as McKinnon begins to do demonstrations of her alien abductions. It really shows the wonderful talents who have started out on SNL as McKinnon shows she can still make people laugh. Also, SNL has given certain celebrities more known for drama a chance to make people laugh.
A skit in which Rachel Dratch appears as Debbie Downer doesn’t work as much even though it does contain cameos by Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon and Ayo Edebiri. However, I will say a cameo by a certain SNL cast member during a “Bronx Bear” skit with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph from the late 1980s and early 1990s is one of the best. And Nathan Lane singing a “Hakuna Matata” parody about cocaine in the 1980s is hilarious.
The opening monologue by Steve Martin and John Mulvaney has one of the best jokes that the late Norm MacDonald would be happy about as Mulvaney commits out of all the guest hosts, only two have committed murder. No names are mentioned but previous hosts have included Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson. Alec Baldwin, who holds the record for hosting at 17 times, was also on the show. It is nice to see him on TV after such a hard few years.
With many cast members gone, Adam Sandler performs a song bringing up members of Phil Hartman and Chris Farley. (Oh, he’s also introduced by his Anger Management co-star Jack Nicholson in a rare public TV appearance.) Yet there’s no mention of Gilbert Gottfried, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall and basically much of the cast of the mid-1980s when the show was almost canceled.
While it is a star-studded presentation, it can get a little too much. You can see Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw in the audience laughing as people around them carry on a skit. Conan O’Brien also appears and is given a shout-out, but Tom Hanks shows he’s still got the comic chops as he reappears as Doug, a MAGA character on “Black Jeopardy,” bringing back a character he played during a 2016 show. Of course this has already angered MAGA and Trumpsters even though it’s a brief appearance.
Hanks also introduces what appears to be an In Memoriam to past members, but it’s actually directed at some of the skits that haven’t aged well with certain stereotypes. (And there’s a lot of blackface that has the images obscured, but it’s pretty obvious what it is.) Some of the jokes don’t land as good as they did especially the infamous “Canteen Boy” skit where Baldwin plays a scoutmaster who tries to molest Sandler.
However, I do think they missed the mark with the “Word Association” skit. Here Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor start do a simple innocent word association that escalates as Chase’s character starts naming racial slurs associated with black people. And Pryor’s character gets angrier and starts saying, “Peckerwood” and “Honkey.” When Chase says the N-word, Pryor says, “Dead honkey” to the audience’s laughter and applause as Pryor begins to twitch his eye.
SNL has always pushed the envelope. But the “In Memoriam” begs the question of is it offensive because of Cancel Culture or are they doing it with the zing Mel Brooks, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker or the Farrelly Brothers have brought to their work? Some of them were probably done in poor taste. Speaking of DeNiro who appeared as Thomas Jefferson in a skit from the 2000s being attracted to Sally Hemmings sidesteps the reality that Jefferson probably sexually assaulted her at first. This was a joke directed at DeNiro who had been married to two black women.
But aside from the skits, the best moments are the live performances as Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter perform “Homeward Bound” and Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard perform “Nothing Compares 2 U.” While some people would wonder why Carpenter and Cyrus should be on this show, SNL has always tried to remain current and popular. Lil Wayne and the Roots also perform and the show ends with Sir Paul McCartney performing medley of “Golden Slumbers,” Carry That Weight,” and “The End.”
And despite some criticism in the past and recent years, the surprise appearance by G.E. Smith with Paul Schaefer is a delight. For the most part, if you’re an SNL fan or admirer over the years, it’s a rarity collection of familiar faces and wonderful talent. That might be while SNL long-term producer Lorne Michaels is standing off to the side at the end when everyone is on stage. He’s encouraged to come center stage as the show end. At 80, “The End” might just be a fitting song as SNL will never accomplish anything like this again with so many people past, present and future there to make it all happen.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 